Out of sheer faith and desperation, the three children who sent their paper boats sailing down the Pasig River had really hoped that, by some kind of miracle, it would reach Malacañang, and the President would be able to read the requests written on them.
True enough, hope still works for these children as the President read Jason, Jomar, and Erwin’s letters. It was evident that the three wishes of the Payatas tragedy’s young victims stirred her enough to deliver a response. Indeed, Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo couldn’t have made a more dramatic and heart-rending introduction to her first State of the Nation Address.
According to Arroyo, providing employment, education, food, and shelter for the poor have become the core of her vision. Through the three children, she had heard the cry of the poor and she realized that it was her sworn duty to fulfill their needs. In front of more than 3,000 Filipinos who braved the rains to witness her address, the President committed herself to the herculean task of uplifting the people from poverty.
Despite the difficult problems her administration “inherited” from the previous government, Arroyo brimmed with optimism as she outlined her battle plan to win the war against poverty. Instead of dwelling on the real and dismal state of the nation—four million jobless Filipinos, 140 billion-peso budget deficit, 40 percent poverty incidence, and weakening foreign trade—she emphasized that the Philippines will prevail.
However, for most of the skeptics and her critics, Arroyo’s address sounded more like a wish list full of sugar-coated promises. And a wish list could never hire the jobless, educate the children, feed the poor, or house the homeless.
Instead of telling the people the true state of the nation’s crumbling economy, Opposition senator Edgardo Angara said the President just delivered a rhetorical piece on plans that are too ambitious to be implemented. Unlike the hopeful picture Arroyo depicted, Angara painted a gloomy picture of the Philippines as a paper boat that is sinking and without direction. Thus, he urged the President to stop daydreaming.
Perhaps, the plan to establish a school building in every barangay by the year 2004, among other plans, seems ambitious. But, like the government’s other plans, it is a worthy cause. We must point, however, that even if every barangay is dotted with school buildings, the ends of education are not yet exactly achieved. As in most else in this nation, it’s quality, not quantity, that should count
So it is good to note that the government now acknowledges the vital role of quality education in economic development as it plans to upgrade the teaching of math and science subjects. Aside from making education more accessible to a greater number of people, Arroyo also considered the importance of sufficient facilities and textbooks for the students, and just compensation for the teachers.
However, the President did not mention anything about the issue of the proposed abolition of the Reserved Officers’ Training Corps, a program that some people say has seen better days. In the context of higher education, the program is now seen as a millstone around the necks of male college students and the parents who pay for their education.
With only three more years left in her term, Arroyo may not have enough time to fulfill all her promises. But she owes it to the Filipinos to accomplish most of her projects. It is also worthy to note that she has set deadlines to some of her plans. It is expected that by 2004, she has reduced corruption in the administration, provided employment, education, food, shelter, and, most importantly, a better quality of life for the poor people.
Indeed, Arroyo is not a miracle worker. The fate of the country does not rely on the government alone. Filipinos also need to do their part in ensuring the country’s welfare, but the administration has to lead them.
Filipinos have had enough of false hopes and empty promises. Like the three children from Payatas, the people could only hope that the President would transform the national dream into a national reality.
The vision of the Arroyo administration is good because it can guide and inspire the government to achieve its national goals. But vision alone does not uplift the poor, concrete actions and reforms do.
